You know who's not very good in the booth? Pinella.

[FreddieMertz]

Holy consistent stream of tired cliches.

[4trainEddie]

didn't FOX give him a tryout that didnt last very long.

anybody who is serious in doing it has to go to "school"
alot of practice, tape review of themselves, getting critical pointers from someone like Marty Glickman, he taught some ex-jocks.
very few are naturals and some can never learn how to do it i.e. Tino

Billy Martin wasnt very good in the booth.
I remember when the Twins hired Tom Kelly as manager in 1986, Billy stumbling on air saying it might not be a good choice;
maybe because they didnt hire him

watch any ex jock or ex-coach newly hired on ESPN,
even though their agents have probably sent them to boot camp for commentators.
you can completely tell some are just fish out of water.

[CCBL BatBoy]

Lou needs to tell a lot more stories about the old Yankees. Munson, Murcer, Nettles etc. Other than that he is dreadful in the booth. I almost feel sorry for him. He makes Flaherty sound good.

[Hitman23]

Yes! Another announcer bashing thread.

[ZYanksRule]

He's bad, but I do think there's a chance he'll get better. He hasn't done it a lot, so I just think he needs some repetition.

[YankeeFan1421]

Lou needs to tell a lot more stories about the old Yankees. Munson, Murcer, Nettles etc. Other than that he is dreadful in the booth. I almost feel sorry for him. He makes Flaherty sound good.

Yeah, I don't know why he doesn't tell some more stories. He's played with some of the most colorful Yankee teams of all time and he rarely mentions it.

[Let's Go Yanks]

At least he rarely does games. Guess who's coming back on Monday? Everyone's favorite John Flaherty.

[NelsonMuntz]

He adds nothing to the broadcast.

[ZYanksRule]

He adds nothing to the broadcast.

You can almost feel his insecurity and unease, though. A couple times today, he just repeated what Paul was saying. I just don't think he knows what to say.

I do think that's something that can come with more practice, though.

[JL25and3]

You can almost feel his insecurity and unease, though. A couple times today, he just repeated what Paul was saying. I just don't think he knows what to say.

I do think that's something that can come with more practice, though.

I think it's hard for Piniella and O'Neill spending all that time together, pretending they don't hate each other.

[yankeesrule]

I think it's hard for Piniella and O'Neill spending all that time together, pretending they don't hate each other.

Why would they hate each other? Is there a history with them? I know Pinella managed him in 1990..

[philleotardo]

Piniella

[JL25and3]

Why would they hate each other? Is there a history with them? I know Pinella managed him in 1990..

Piniella wanted O'Neill to become a pull hitter, a big homerun hitter to bat fourth, especially when Eric Davis went downhill (and then to LA). They clashed over that, and while O'Neill initially showed a spike in HR, his numbers declined the next year. Resentment between them went both ways (though I might overestimate the rancor, for my own fun).

O'Neill was starting to look like a platoon player who had pretty well hit his limit, which was why a lot of people thought the Yankees got fleeced in the trade with the Reds. It was only when O'Neill got to NY and Showalter let him go back to being a line-drive spray hitter that O'Neill flourished again.

[Hitman23]

Why would they hate each other? Is there a history with them? I know Pinella managed him in 1990..

There is a large percentage of what happens on the air and radio that is scripted. No matter what medium. I know this because I know people in the industry who work behind the scenes (before anyone says I'm talking out of my ass, my brother is a producer of a radio show and has done it for a a few radio stations and one television station). Now I don't know how the people in charge of YES work, but my best guess is it's no different. So i'm pretty sure any tension or obvious arguments are either put in to have some drama entertainment and get people talking, or it's like any of us who rip on our friends for fun and unless you're in on it, it seems like it's an actual fight.

I'm pretty much convinced that if there were any true issues between announcers that it would not be allowed to be vented on the air, it is not the time or place professionally to do it. So I'm left with assuming it's a bunch of friends who are messing with each other.

[RogerNatural]

The other day I'm watching/listening to the game... after awhile, and I mean a WHILE.. I hear a voice pop-up with a comment... and I say, "LOU ! is that you ?!! " ... I didn't even know he was on the broadcast. BUT... that's OK.. I can never dislike Loooo....

[BRNXBMRS]

I actually like Pinella esp when he is paired with Singleton. Great stories.

[knickfan23]

I think the 3 man booth really hurts Piniella.

With the 3-man, you are trying to find airtime to express your thoughts and don't have much time. In order to do it right, you need to do a good amount of games to get the chemistry down.

YES is not using him the right way. Lou is better in a 2-man booth to give him the freedom to explain and utilize his knowledge. When FOX hired him for a full season, he was in a 2-man. Right now, he's fighting for time when Kay is turning the game into his radio show and promoting Twitter while setting up his "regular analysts."

For that, I put the blame on Kay for not really giving him a chance.

Now tonight, he again is the 3rd man in the booth along with Singleton and Flaherty. On the surface, this appears to be trainwreck waiting to happen. However, because Singleton is more apt to let the game breathe and Flaherty isn't looking to talk incessantly either, this may give Lou a chance to talk more and it may sound better.

[FreddieMertz]

You know who's not very good at spelling Piniella? Me!

When he's telling stories, he's great. The random injections are cliched and boring.

[yankees2010]

Piniella wanted O'Neill to become a pull hitter, a big homerun hitter to bat fourth, especially when Eric Davis went downhill (and then to LA). They clashed over that, and while O'Neill initially showed a spike in HR, his numbers declined the next year. Resentment between them went both ways (though I might overestimate the rancor, for my own fun).

O'Neill was starting to look like a platoon player who had pretty well hit his limit, which was why a lot of people thought the Yankees got fleeced in the trade with the Reds. It was only when O'Neill got to NY and Showalter let him go back to being a line-drive spray hitter that O'Neill flourished again.

That and the constant fastballs thrown directly at him by the Mariners while Lou was managing

[snapple]

Lou's stories are awesome.

[bigjf]

Very slow, southern drawl that is fairly difficult to understand at times....I think it's true that guys don't put the effort in. For every Phil Rizzuto comedy act, there needs to be a Bobby Murcer who actually does his homework.

[JL25and3]

Very slow, southern drawl that is fairly difficult to understand at times....I think it's true that guys don't put the effort in. For every Phil Rizzuto comedy act, there needs to be a Bobby Murcer who actually does his homework.

Murcer was not a good announcer when he started, but he worked very hard at it. Even his self-effacing good-ol'-boy persona was something he worked hard at presenting well. When he started, he just came across as a dumb hick who didn't speak very well. I admired how good he became, because he did take it seriously and work to become good.

[b-ball-lunachick]

I think the 3 man booth really hurts Piniella.

With the 3-man, you are trying to find airtime to express your thoughts and don't have much time. In order to do it right, you need to do a good amount of games to get the chemistry down.

.

As soon as I saw the thread title, I was coming here to post virtually what you wrote above. I also thought he got better the more he did it but think he'd be better suited to the 2 man booth. And I love his stories.

[penguin4]

very few are naturals and some can never learn how to do it i.e. Tino.

I always felt so bad for Tino every time he was on air -- he just looked so uncomfortable.

I don't mind Lou -- I just think he still belongs in a uniform, rather than behind the glass. Always wondered if he and Paulie ever reconciled--I remember Lou calling him a "crybaby" when they had that bench-clearing brawl in Seattle started by Paulie and the late John Marzano, which I think related back to the bad blood from their Reds days. But that was fifteen years ago, so I'd hope they put it behind them.

The crazy awesome coincidence? "LOU PINIELLA" anagrams to "I, PAUL O'NEILL."

[NYYankeesFan92]

Was anyone watching the game on TBS yesterday? I doubt Piniella could be any worse than Boomer.